Tens of thousands of Saudis are tweeting their support for Trump

In what appears to be a concerted campaign out of Saudi Arabia, tens of thousands of Saudis are tweeting their support of U.S. President Donald Trump and his aggressive rhetoric against Iran, the other main power in the region that is challenging Riyadh for dominance.

#قولي_شيء_بخاطرك
To see Saudi Arabia and the USA leading the war against terrorism.
#TrumpStopsIranianTerrorism https://t.co/6Zk2zwrgb9

@realDonaldTrump is the only one who can stop Iran and their terrorist acts! We support u & have big hopes on u!… https://t.co/lkRN1CwUgB

@realDonaldTrump Mr Trump, i couldn't agree with you more #TrumpStopsIranianTerrorism https://t.co/Wf5p75Y4Rm

@POTUS @VP we support your movements against Iran! Saudi and all the world with you to get rid of terrorism.… https://t.co/AStCyDPfxA

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Last week, those words thrilled many Sunni Arabs in the region who fear Iran's return to the international community. But this week, Saudi propagandists appear to have engineered a Twitter campaign to boost support for Trump in an apparent attempt to influence the new president.

Vocativ found the hashtags #TrumpStopsIranianTerrorism and #TrumpWarnsIranianTerrorism have appeared over 80,000 times since Saturday, and likely created in accounts of Saudi influencers who tweeted "Trump is the best leader in the world" and thanked Trump for his statements against the Iranian regime. Vocativ found that the vast majority of the tweets using these hashtags came from Saudi Arabia and that the most retweeted posts came from leading pro-Saudi accounts and influential journalists affiliated with the monarchy.

Tweets posted alongside the hashtags included portrayals of Trump as Captain America, James Bond or a knight in shining armor, standing atop a military tank. In one image Trump is carrying a bald eagle over his shoulder. "There is no Obama anymore," the caption read. Others show Trump standing beside King Salman and that the two leaders are trying "to protect the whole world."